The best time-saving measure a gardener can take is applying mulch. This goes for everywhere from vegetable gardens to flower beds. Mulched gardens grow healthier, have fewer weeds, and resist drought than unmulched ones. Done properly, it’ll allow you to spend less time watering, weeding, and fighting pest problems.
Mulch is any material that is spread or laid over the surface of the soil as a covering. It is used to retain moisture in the soil, suppress weeds, keep the soil cool, and make the garden bed look more attractive. Organic mulches also help improve the soil’s fertility, as they decompose.
Organic mulch will decompose and have to be replaced, but in the process, it will also improve your soil’s fertility and its organic content. The dryer and woodier the mulch, the slower it will decompose and the fewer nutrients it will give to the soil.
It pays to know the origin of manure, compost, and straw since these materials can contain viable weed seeds. The last thing you want is to spread a mulch that is going to start sprouting and make more work for you. Each type of organic mulch has its use.
Compost
Compost and composted manure can be used anywhere, as long as they are relatively well composted and weed-free. You can use them as a coating of mulch or simply side dress plants with them during the growing season to insulate and give a boost of slowly released nutrients. You can make compost by combining food scraps, grass clippings, and other organic materials in specialized bins or tumblers.
Shredded Leaves
Shredded Leaves are nature’s favorite mulch. They can be used as mulch anywhere and have the bonus of being free. You will also entice more earthworms to your garden soil. Some gardeners don’t like the look of leaves in their garden, and they probably aren’t appropriate for a formal setting. If you spread a layer in the spring before plants spread out, the leaf mulch tends to blend into the view within a short time. Shredded leaves are perfect for woodland gardens, and if you spread a layer over your vegetable garden in the fall, it will begin decomposing over the winter.
Grass Clippings
Grass Clippings are a mixed bag and are best suited to remote areas of your garden where you want to suppress weeds. Grass clippings, like most green plant debris with high water content, decompose very rapidly, and in the process, they can get somewhat slimy, with an unpleasant odor, so use with discretion. Grass clippings also tend to mat down and not allow water to pass through.
Ideally, you should use a mulching mower and leave the clippings on the lawn to add fertility to that soil. If you do bag your grass clippings, don’t throw them away unless you have used weed killer or some other herbicide or pesticide on your lawn. Synthetic lawn care products can be bad for some flowers, and you certainly don’t want to use them in your vegetable garden. Untreated grass clippings can either be dumped into your compost bin or used to mulch open, unplanted areas.
How to Mulch Any Garden
There are two cardinal rules for using mulch to combat weeds. First, lay the mulch down on soil that is already weeded, and second, lay down a thick enough layer to discourage new weeds from coming up through it.
It can take a 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch to completely discourage weeds, although a 2- to 3-inch layer is usually enough in shady spots. If you know that a garden bed is filled with weed seeds or perennial roots, you can use a double-mulching technique to prevent a weed explosion. Set plants in place, water them well, then spread the newspaper and top it with mulch.
Mulches that also retains moisture (like wood chips) can slow soil warming. In spring, pull mulch away from perennials and bulbs for faster growth. A wet mulch piled against the stems of flowers and vegetables can cause them to rot; keep mulch about 1 inch away from crowns and stems.
Mulch piled up against woody stems of shrubs and trees can also cause rot and encourages rodents to nest there. Keep deep mulch pulled back about 6 to 12 inches from trunks.